Dislike
by MajesticSilverDawn
Summary: Private is missing, and Skipper will do everything in his power to find him. Or will he? After all, some sacrifices hurt more than others, and Skipper can't take much more loss. CHAPTER 4 new characters are doing cool things!
1. Prologue

Skipper rubbed his eyes and hopped down from his bunk, smirking at the serene faces of his teammates. The sun was up already, but Skipper didn't scream at his team to get up. It was Sunday, the day the zoo was closed, and Skipper usually let the commando-like group relax for a few hours before training commenced.

Kowalski was mumbling something about Newton's laws, making odd motions with his flippers. Another bunk down, Rico was cackling maniacally in his sleep, occasionally making 'BOOM!' noises. On the third bunk, well, Skipper didn't even need to check. He knew Private was-

Wait! Private wasn't in his bunk! Skipper shook his head. No. Private never woke up earlier than Skipper. He couldn't have gone anywhere during the nighttime, either. Skipper had set up an elaborate intruder alarm system that ensured nobody could get in - or out - while Skipper was asleep.

"Private!" Skipper called out sharply. "Where are you, soldier?"

No answer. Kowalski continued muttering in his sleep and Rico stopped laughing and started to mewl.

"Hoover Dam, maybe I'm hallucinating!" Skipper slapped himself across the face. He looked over at Private's bunk, but there was still no sign of the young penguin.

"Private, this is borderline insubordination! If you don't stop this silly prank of yours-"

"GAH! SWEET NEWTON'S THIRD LAW!"

"GE' OFF MEH, 'WALSKI!"

"Wha-?"

Skipper spun around and ducked into his combat position, ready to fight something. To his dismay, it was only his subordinates, Kowalski and Rico. From the looks of it, Kowalski had tumbled off his bunk and knocked Rico onto the floor with him. The two sleepy penguins lay in a black-and-white pile, groaning in pain.

"Men, we've got a problem," Skipper began, not even bothering to remark on his team's lack of professionalism. "Private isn't here."

Kowalski stood up and brushed himself off. "Well, it is Sunday, so there's nothing wrong with a bit of an extrusion. Maybe there's some Lunacorns convention he's gone to."

Rico, still laying on his belly, grunted in agreement. "Oo muh Oonacohns."

"Well, if that were the case, wouldn't Private tell us about it? He isn't the kind to keep a secret for long," Skipper said.

Kowalski looked uneasy for a moment. "Well, sir, Private knows how much you despise Lunacorns. Maybe he didn't want to aggravate you and went off by himself?"

Skipper laughed. "No way! I know Private like I know my coffee mug. He's calming, serene, and is _never _unpredictable."

"Well, we'll wait for him, I suppose he'll be back by lunchtime."

"I just hope young Private is doing alright by himself. Are you sure we shouldn't check outside? Mybe he went to the lemurs, or to see Marlene."

"Sir, I'm positive Private will return before sundown, at the very latest. If not, then I suggest we panic," said Kowalski reasonably.

Skipper nodded in resignation. "You're right."

* * *

><p>Sundown came and went.<p>

The Penguins panicked.

_First it was Kowalski, after their silent lunch._ "Sir, I suggest we skip training today and look for Private."

Skipper was hesitant at best, but did a quick sweep of the zoo with his men and found nothing.

"No sign of Private. It's like he just up and disappeared."

"No, Kowalski, that's where you're wrong. Private will come back soon." Skipper's eyes turned ice-cold. "And in the event that we lose one of our men, I don't want this unit going soft. We will resume our missions promptly."

_Later, when Marlene came over, Rico freaked_.

"Hey guys! Is Private around? I wanted to show him something."

"You see, Private has been absent from HQ ever since we all woke up. Ahem. But of course, this is all classified info, Marlene."

"Wait, Private's missing? Where'd he go?"

"Shhh! Not so loud, Marlene! Ringtail might hear!"

"But what if something's happened to him?"

"Ee's kay."

"What makes you so sure? Private isn't as commando as the rest of you guys! What if he gets lost? Or hurt?"

"SAID EE'S KAY! SAID EE'S KAY!"

"What's wrong with Rico...?"

"Marlene, we'll search for Private tomorrow. When Rico gets like his, he needs a little bit of coaxing."

"Kowalski, stop flirting with the lady and help me get Rico down!"

* * *

><p>As Skipper lay in his bunk, drifting to sleep, he allowed his mind to wander. He imagined the worst possible things that could happen to Private. He steeled himself against them. Any sign of weakness, anything that could possibly waver his resolve, they were all accounted for. The sharpest blades, the most profound amount of blood, the most bloodcurdling screams.<p>

As prepared as he wanted to be, he woke from his self-inflicted nightmare covered in a sheen of sweat.

Private's case was odd, for sure. Skipper's sharpened military senses hadn't picked up on any noise during the night. Private- or his captor- would have had to maintain complete silence while dodging hidden security measures. Private could _never_ do that.

There were only two people with Skipper while he was setting up security at penguin HQ. Niether of them were supposed to be alive, but Skipper knew that they were crafty beyond belief. They were the ones who had helped him escape Denmark, after all.

_"Hah! So we kill a few penguins on a mission and they replace us with a kid? How old is 'e, anyway? Six?"_

_"Johnson, nothing good will come out of you staying. Central headquarters has requested that you two leave, and it is in my best intrest that I obey their orders," replied Skipper grimly._

_"Coward! You're nothin' without us, ain't that right Manfredi?"_

_"Yeah, Johnson! 'E's a big coward! Hidin' behind Central and actin' like their word is always truth!"_

_Skipper clenched his fist. "Rico, take Private inside."_

_"Darn, big boy! You plannin' on hurtin' us?"_

_"No, Johnson. I won't go against my superiors' orders. But I will ask you once more to leave or we will have jurisdiction to hurt you."_

_"Fine, fine, we'll leave, Skipper. Have fun with your war-torn chick!"_

_"Your beloved superiors probably never thought to mention that the little penguin you got to replace BOTH of us has shell-shock."_

_"Manfredi!"_

_Skipper leaped off the ground and tackled his former friend._

_"The poor thing can barely stand the sight of a gun! How the Hell do ya think he'll replace us, Skipper?"_

_"Skipper!" Kowalski's voice cut through the violence. "Just got orders from Central. Change of plans. They want Manfredi and Johnson in Antarctica. Alive."_

_"Kowalski- options."_

_"We'll kick their butts into next week!"_

_"Now you're speaking my language!"_

_The "butt kicking" went well, and the job was finished quickly. It was almost as if the murderous duo _wanted_ to be captured. Rico had tied the penguins up they were shipped to Antarctica. The three thought the ordeal was over, until they found a note under Skipper's pillow._

_"we dont like your new baby skipper_

_you know what happens to things we dont like_

_dont you?"_

* * *

><p>Skipper woke up and let out a sharp breath. A few bunks above him, he could hear Kowalski groan.<p>

"Nightmare, sir?"

Skipper smiled in spite of himself. "Go back to sleep, soldier."

"I can't say I've slept soundly, either. Private would never leave by himself. If he did, he'd come back soon,"he mumbled sleepily.

"Well, Kowalski. I have a hunch I want to explore tomorrow."

Kowalski quickly sat up. "I can access Database files immediately if you want me to, sir."

Skipper sighed. "No, that won't be needed tonight. You need your rest."

"As do you, Skipper. I bid you goodnight."

_Am I a horrible leader? Why isn't there a Central-organized search party checking the world for my Private?_

_Because one casualty is enough. Nobody else should get hurt because of my mistakes__. Not even if that means sacrificing Private._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Oh. Well, hello there. I usually write Pokemon fics, but decided it would be a great time to shove my way into the comparitively sleepy POM fandom! I expected to see, like, three people on this side of fanfiction, but there are so many good authors here, like GearSolidSnake, Aquade, ForThoseWhoLikeToMoveItMoveIt, thewriterstory, and many, many more!<em>**

**_I'd like to review and see if I can fix any OOC-ness and mistakes. I probably messed something up related to continuity as well, so please help a noob out!_**


	2. Day One

He had to be brave.

Or at least that was what Skipper had told him. To take the fear that he felt and turn it into a tiny ball of hate.

But Private couldn't hate anyone he hadn't seen.

He knew they were penguins, someone Ex-Central, possibly. They kept on referring to a Colonel White and mentioned Skipper's name a few times as well. He knew they were quite similar to each other, at least in silhouette form- they were about Rico's height, give or take. But Private had no clue who they were. They never came in his cell at the same time, probably as some sort of precaution.

Private was cold, scared. Shivering meekly in the corner. Waiting for something horrible to happen. He knew it would. Something horrid was just bound to happen again.

They hadn't been finished when he faked falling unconcious.

He hoped Skipper and the others would save him.

He had to be brave.

* * *

><p>"Kowalski! Are you done yet?"<p>

The scientist let out a sigh. "Skipper, I'm afraid it takes more than sixteen minutes and fifty four seconds to hack into Central's database.."

"Come on! It's been _at least_ an hour, soldier. How's the progress?"

"I think it's only been approximately fifteen..." Kowalski winced at the death glare he was recieving from his commanding officer. "Ah, Sir? What do you want me to search for? The way the database is arranged, I can only view one file at a time, rather than pulling up multiple documents at once."

"Find a list of convicted criminals thought to be dead."

Kowalski's eyes widened. "Skipper! You don't think that-"

"Yeah, I do. Why else would we be hacking into Central? My rank isn't high enough to access this information without a warrant."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kowalski snorted. "Ha! They really should encrypt their software! This is as easy as the first 25 numbers of pi!"

_Smack! _"Kowalski! Focus on the task at hand! I want Manfredi and Johnson's files up ASAP!"

As Kowalski bent over the computer, typing away at the keyboard, Skipper walked towards the hatch. "I'll go outside for a while."

It was still in the early hours of morning, and the sun's orange glow had just barely began to portrude from behind New York's skyscrapers. Skipper heard the shrill cries of birds erpupting from trees, shaking loose a shower of fall leaves.

_Is there any place I'd rather be?_

He had no idea how long he'd been standing there, unfazed by the brilliant light of the sun rising that morning. _Please let us all be safe by the time the sun sets._

"Expect the worst, hope for the best."

"Wha-?" Skipper was violently woken from his dream-like trance by Kowalski. Had he been thinking aloud?

"That's what you used to say, back when Manfredi and Johnson were with us. They were such pessimists after they saw the bombing at Central, weren't they."

Skipper allowed himself a small smile despite the bile rising in his throat. "Those men were real nancy-cats. Nobody even died in that bombing! It was just some rouge group trying to get attention."

A faint scream that was distinctly lemur-like shattered the peaceful air of the morning.

Skipper, followed by his second in command, slid to the lemur habitat.

"Ringtail! What's your problem?"

"How many times am I to be telling you? My name is King Julien, not that silly nickname you give to me!" The slim lemur retorted. "And my problem is that I am having to be listening to you silly penguins doing your stupid fighty thing _every single day_!"

The self-proclaimed king stopped in the middle of his rant; the plastic volcano oozing lava was the perfect backdrop for his tantrum. "Hey, where is the violent penguin and the nicey penguin? I am giving out a royal proclomation and they must be doing the listening!"

Kowalski could feel Skipper fuming, so he let out a nervous laugh. "They're playing cards back at the HQ. We'll bring them here in just a moment, Julien! You should maybe warm up for the.. _heh_... royal proclomation."

"Ah, yes. I need to be doing the practice. And it's KING JULIEN to you!"

Kowalski steered Skipper away from the lemur. In his hurry, he almost tripped over Mort, who looked as if he was attempting to reach Julien's feet.

"Sad-eyes! Watch where you're innocently standing, got it?" screamed Skipper, balling up both his flippers. He was down to the last straw with how careless the lemurs could be.

Mort looked up at Skipper with a blank stare. "I saw there was only one penguin in the penguin hole so maybe I thought the other one would be here but he's not."

Skipper visibly cringed, and Kowalski practically shoved Skipper out of the lemur habitat.

Once they were back in the safety of their own HQ, Skipper let out an anguished yell.

"This is just all so frustrating! Private could be suffering terribly in the hands of penguins who have somehow come back to life! And what are we doing? Arguing with Ringtail?"

Rico, who had been brishing Miss Perky's hair, grunted in agreement, pointedly looking at Kowalski. "His fault."

"You know, Private is like a brother to all of us. Whoever took him, or got him to leave us, or whatever: they want us to do this. They want us to argue amongst ourselves and blame each other for this."

Skipper narrowed his eyes in scepticism. "I have a fairly good reason for blaming you. You're the one who suggested that Private was out playing with Lunacorns in New York. He would never do that! What on Earth were we thinking?"

"The reason I came up to the habitat was to get you down here," said Kowalski, ever the mature older brother. "I fould Manfredi's file, and I was going to pull up Johnson's as well, but..." the analyst gestured weakly towards the large computer of the HQ. "The server timed me out."

"Speak American, Kowalski."

"It'll take us three full days before we can get any data on Johnson. And one more eensy little detail." Rico dropped Miss Perky and the hairbrush and stood next to his leader, seeming alert and as paranoid as Skipper himself.

"They seem to have installed some sort of virus on our computer. I can't view Johnson's file, either."

* * *

><p><em><strong>This chapter was mostly just zoo antics and such, but Private has been captured by the infamous duo of penguins thought to be dead, Manfredi and Johnson! Kowalski seems to have tech problems as well! What will they do? Well, only I know that! Please review! <strong>_

_**I know nothing **_**much _happened in this chapter, but next chapter will have many surprises! _**

**_As an apology for the uneventful chapter, here is a trivia question! The people who get this right get an internet cookie!_**

**_"Name the two voice actors who played Private across the Madagascar franchise."_**

**_It is a bit of a simplistic question, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Have a nice day!_**


	3. Options

It was silent. Private whimpered.

It was so cold outside- he could feel the damp snow on his skin through his feathers. He glanced wildly about, looking for any sign of life. A small fire, the orange glow of a city's light pollution. Heck, even some kind of noise would be nice. But the young penguin felt as he was inside a vaccum. It was pitch black, save for the ashy-looking snow and the white moonlight peeking bravely through the clouds. There was no sound at except for the blood pounding through Private's head. He had escaped!

He belly-slid towards the moon, caught up in his fantasy. The Lunacorns were right! If you worked hard enough, and you could achieve anything!

Private had definitely worked hard. He could still feel the distant sting of the wound on his flipper. The cold snow seemed to be numbing it. Anything was better than the terrible onslaught of pain he had felt when it was first inflicted upon him.

Anything was better than seeing the backlit glow of the penguin's eyes as he held the weapon high. His low, grovely laugh as Private shut his eyes and wished for someone to come save him.

Private stopped occasionally to catch his breath and gather his bearings. The night was still young, evidently. The sun hadn't even started to come up, and the moon was slowly being swallowed up by the cloudy sky.

_Just keep going_, a voice told him. _Don't look back. _Private listened. He was a good soldier. He would listen to his commander.

His mother called to him, her voice grievous and woeful.

A loud crash, and then nothing.

The zoo was on fire. Everything was burning. The silence was loud; the fire cackled with laughter, and the dull, lifeless words of those who were now dead seized his throat and choked him.

He was thrown across the snow, his body creating an imperfect groove on the fresh powder.

It was snowing now, ashy-looking snow. Everything was the same color.

The clouds had gone away, leaving only the moon and her stars in the lonely night sky. He could barely hear his own heartbeat.

_Thump, thump, thump._

_"Don't look back! I'll be okay!"_

_"Why won't you come with me, Skipper?"_

_"Because we're dead," they answered together._

Mother and son screamed in harmony, both longing for what they had lost. Comander and Private stared into each other's eyes, overcome with silent terror.

He was so sorry for leaving Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico behind. His brothers. Why had he left them?

Were they alright?

Where was his mother? Skipper said he would tell him. If Skipper was dead, he couldn't tell Private what happened to his mother!

_"No!" _The huge, open space mocked him. _"No...no...no!" _

The echoes of his pain.

It was a dream. His brothers were alive. So was his mother.

Private's eyes slowly opened and he let the tears flow. He was tired of hiding it. He was tired of the pain.

If they wanted the information, they could have it!

His mother was still alive. Skipper could be dead.

It was silent, save for the mockeries of his anguish.

_No, no, no, no, no..._

Private allowed himself the slightest of smiles. What had he been thinking? He would never put his brothers in danger.

He was a good soldier.

"I will never tell them anything!"

The echoes of his scream were fainter this time. The silence was loud.

His smile dissapated as he heard a low chuckle that he immediately identified. He drew himself up and into his "fighting position."

Skipper would've been dissapointed.

His form was sloppy, and he had a pronounced slouch. His limbs quivered, and yet he held the pose. He forced himself to say something. _For Skipper and Kowalski and Rico and Mum. For the people I have to protect._

"Fancy meeting you here, Amarillo Kid."

"Never say never, Mr. Tux."

* * *

><p><em>Kowalski was up on the iceberg with Rico as the humans barged into the Central Park Zoo. As Skipper climbed up to join them, he let a chuckle excape his beak.<em>

_"Tonight, men."_

_Kowalski had glanced at him, busy attempting to catch a piece of popcorn someone had thrown into the exhibit. "I beg your pardon, Skipper?"_

_Rico, having noticed the low-toned conversation, waddled over from where he had been about to dive into the penguin pool. "Wha?"_

_Skipper laughed, genuinely this time._

_"Men, I think I have a way that we can find Private."_

Kowalski sat opposite his leader. That conversation had occured hours ago. The newly-made trio had just finished eating herring sushi, courtesy of Rico. The analyst watched nervously as Skipper stabbed a red pushpin into a map.

"They are supposed to be dead, sir."

"Yes, yes. I know."

Kowalski cocked an eyebrow. "Are we really doing this?"

"I talked to Colonel White. Told him about how one of our soldiers is MIA."

Kowalski let out a short gasp and stared wide-eyed. "Y-y-you..." he tried, beak agape. Rico was in a similar state, instead asking Skipper incredulously, _"'Kernal Whi?"_

"Yeah, I got yelled at. A lot." Skipper frowned. "But he's agreed to help us."

"So we haven't been dishonorably discharged?"

Skipper squinted his eyes. "Not yet, we haven't."

"Phew." "Oooh yeah!"

_Slam!_ The sound of Skipper's fist on the HQ's small, metal table resonated through the room. "We need to focus on the problem at hand. You remember the note that Manfredi and Johnson wrote us?" asked Skipper. "He silently counted down in his head. _Three, two, one-_

"Ah! Of course!"

Rico jumped up in surprise from Kowalski's outburst. "'Walski, ya waddah scare me?"

"No, Rico, I'm sorry. But I've figured this out! Manfredi and Johnson are penguins. I find it highly improbable that the infamous duo would ever have time to learn how to read and write. So, I propose that they used the same method that we used to decipher the human text on their note!"

Kowalski paused for dramatic affect before continuing. "Rico, Skipper, if you recall, we went to the only two animals in the zoo who could translate human writing at the time- Phil and Mason!"

While Rico looked mildly surprised, Skipper rolled his eyes, tossing a file he had retrieved onto the metal table. "Colonel White is just a Colonel. Not much compared to the head of Central. But he's got some friends in high places, literally. Have you seen how tall those Emperor penguins are?"

_Now who needs to focus on the problem at hand?_ Kowalski had to clench his fists to stop the retort from coming. "Skipper!" he instead screamed.

Kowalski hadn't meant to come off as impatient, but their teammate was missing. No, their _brother_ was missing. Skipper going off on a tangent about how large other species of penguins were wouldn't help anything. He grunted, grabbed the file Skipper had laid on the table, and shook it open, letting the neatly paper-clipped documents glide down to the weathered metal.

_"What is this?"_

Kowalski dropped the document he had been inspecting in shock and slowly grabbed another one, expecting the worst. His heart plummeted. It was filled, top to bottom, with indecipherable code, just like the last one.

"No... Skipper, what is this? Central doesn't write their documents in human writing, right?"

The commander's face fell. "I thought you'd say something like that. See, Colonel White has a band of Emperor penguins that work for him. They're the President's cousins, or something. Long story short, the Colonel got his grubby little flippers on these classified documents, and now they're yours. But one problem-"

"-they're written in human script! We'd have to show this to Phil and Mason to get the info, and at this point, we can't trust them, can we?"

Skipper shook his head. "No, Kowalski. _You _wrote these documents, years ago. You came up with the code and everything. You'd seen firsthand Manfredi and Johnson's plans, and the way they thought."

Kowalski scoffed. "Like you and Rico didn't?"

"No, we did. But you were the smartest and the most able of us all. You gave them the means to translate the code, and you wrote all this."

Kowalski felt a horrible, impending realization beginning to dawn on him. "Skipper. _Why don't I remember any of this,_" he asked, putting as much vehemency as he could into the sentence.

"They wiped all our memories afterwards, as a standard security protocol. But that right there is the problem. Nobody else in all of Central, except for the President, has access to the answer to the code.

"So I'll ask the only thing I can ask of you right now: Kowalski; options."

"We have only two of them this time around, Skipper. I either try to get myself to remember the code, or we go to Antarctica and find a way to get to the President."

Skipper watched as Kowalski's face fell. He was no doubt grappling with the enormity of both tasks.

"I know I'm the leader, but this time it's your call. What do we do?"

"I- I just don't know, Skipper." his voice cracked and he tilted his head to one side, not wanting his team to see the tears that now flowed freely down his face,

Skipper glanced down, feeling his vision blur. He didn't want to think about what would happen to Private if they stalled too long. What were his former teammates doing to Private now?

"It's your call, soldier. I honestly don't know what I would do in your position."

The normally fun-loving and jovial Rico was now pleading with the scientist.

"_Private_," he muttered in surprisingly comprehensible speech. "_We need Private back_."

Skipper stepped back, knocking over the chessboard in his haste to get away. _I can't handle this. None of us can!_

They were each on their own, in their own, seperate silences.

The silence is loud and inescapable.

You can't escape the silence.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh gersh! That was a fun one to write! I guess, as a response to Smile-I'mTheEndOfAllThatYouSee's review, that this would be an AU, one in which Manfredi and Johnson are evil. And also one where there's a sort of Central military power with Emperor penguins in it. Fffffun.<strong>

**I'd like to thank Treemist for answering the trivia question correctly! Yay! James Patrick Stuart has honestly got to be the VA for Private that I prefer, though Christopher Knights did marvelously in the movie! Next trivia question-**

**How many unreleased episodes of POM are there, as of January 26, 2015?**

**I'm not sure if I did the philosophical stuff right in this chapter, and this one was a bit... heavy? I dunno. But next chapter will be a whole lot of fun. Be sure to review and let me know how you think I did! Feedback is great. Flames are significantly less great!**

**Have a great rest of the day!**


	4. Choices

At the age of two, Private was very curious.

Naturally, some things cannot be explained in this world. Private knew that now, but years ago, he was blissfully unaware.

The things he thought he could explain now were the things he wished never existed.

"Why is the sky blue?" he had once asked Kowalski. "And why not red, or green?"

Kowalski dutifully answered, "Sunlight reaches Earth's atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and reflective particles in the air. All types of light are scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth's atmosphere, but blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time."

Another time he had asked his brother; "How do the Lunacorns get on the TV?" He had been answered in a similar manner.

Kowalski was very down-to-earth. He was prideful and self-aware, almost to the point of obsession.

"Übermensch," he had called it. "I want to be the supreme being. I want to be the best I can possibly be. That's why I joined the Penguin army."

"But doesn't being an Oomerbench mean you'd have to be better than all of us, then?"

"It very well may mean that, Private." Kowalski chuckled, not unkindly. "But becoming an Übermensch is just a goal, something that you only wish you can attain. At the end of the day, it'll still be something I'll be striving to achieve." He reached out and playfully ruffled the other penguin's feathers. "Just like your dream of making friends with everyone in the world, right? There's a very small chance that you'll ever be able to get to that goal, but you keep trying, don't you? You're kind and considerate, and you stand up for what you believe in.

"Private, in my absolute, honest opinion, you are an Übermensch."

Private had tilted his small head and gazed up at his big brother with big, questioning eyes. "But you're better than me!"

"Thank you Private, that really means a lot."

As Private stood across from Amarillo Kid, he thought of his family back at the zoo. Even in his childhood, he had admired all of his brothers, Kowalski especially. They were superheroes to him, gigantic, unconquerable forces that could never be stopped. Now he knew better.

They could be stopped. In numerous ways. They were cracked, broken, vulnerable.

They were a bomb made of glass.

Bombs are destined to go off.

Glass is destined to shatter.

We are all destined to die.

Private didn't want to die.

"What are you doing here? Are you the one who's taken me captive?"

The armadillo snorted. "Naw. I'm just here to mosey around and dance the Texas Two-Step!"

"What?" Private took what he hoped was a threatening step toward the Kid. "Heck is your problem?"

"Woah! Sarcasm, pardner! Ever heard of it? No, I ain't gonna do nothing to ya. I'm stuck in this hellhole, same as you, Mr. Tux."

Private's face scrunched up in confusion. "Why would they put you in here, Amarillo Kid?"

"I dunno." He wrinkled his small nose. "And why's you gotta keep calling me that stupid name?"

"What? Amarillo Kid? That's your name, isn't it?"

Another snort, this time louder and more deliberate. "Kids back in Waco called me Hank."

Private stood up straight and marched over to the desert animal. "Tell me the truth, you idiot! Or was that sarcasm as well?"

"Woah, easy now. I ain't here to give you a hard time, like I did back in Austin. No siree, I'm here to give you a proposition." He cleared his throat and added: "Yeah, my momma did name me Hank."

Private considered that for a moment. The events at Fairway 18 had made the Amarillo Kid seem like he had turned over a new leaf, but he wanted to be sure before he made any promises he couldn't keep.

"I'll listen to what you have to say. But I'm not making any promises." He paused for a second, then added: "Hank."

* * *

><p>The penguins had taken a whole boat.<p>

Kowalski chuckled to himself. New York City had multiple ports, and even though security cameras were installed in the harbor, they were basic and easy to tamper with. Within a matter of minutes, the cameras were all off and the trio had secured a whole luxury yacht.

His hard drive had been corrupted by the Central virus as well. Kowalski tried not to think about that.

He hadn't gotten any sleep, as the choppy waters of the bay had rocked the boat to and fro. Rico was sleeping soundly in a plush seat below deck, and Skipper was steering their ship, on the opposite end of the boat from where Kowalski now stood, deep in thought.

Pushing aside his emotions had been hard. Extremely hard. Private was like a brother to him- making an irrational decision might have caused Private's death. He now felt that he had a small grasp of how hard Skipper's job was every day. Kowalski understood it now.

Rico was wise beyond his seemingly mindless cover. He had already experienced the pain of coping with his decisions, back in Guatemala, when he had left the love of his life to save his brothers. Kowalski knew his angst was not ill-felt.

He dreaded the day when Private would have to make a choice like his. He seemed too innocent to have anything to do with things like killing someone or choosing whether to retreat or to fight.

The day when Private would make a difficult choice was the day when Private would have grown up. Involuntarily, of course.

He still had to admit that Private's innocence had grown on him.

"Thinking, soldier?"

"Oh- Hello, sir." Kowalski looked up at the moon. It offered not even the faintest of smiles.

"Yup." Skipper sounded like he was trying not to laugh. "You were definetly thinking. No worries, I turned off the engine. No sense in wasting precious fuel when the waves can just carry us to Antarctica."

"Skipper..." He trailed off, transfixed by the huge, towering masses of cloud in the distance. "I _think_ I made the right choice."

When his commander didn't say anything, he continued, still staring beyond the horizon. "Just staying where we were at the zoo wouldn't have helped us at all. We'll actually have a chance at getting to those files if we head to Central. And even if that doesn't work out, Central's labs have everything I would need to build something that could bring my memories back... right?" He glanced nervously at Skipper, his throat as dry as sandpaper.

"Right." Skipper's face was emotionless now, and Kowalski silently admired his ability to seemingly turn off as his feeling and stare anything down with that stone-cold expression.

"Sir, I _need_ your approval. Did I screw everything up?" He was now resisting the urge to fall to Skipper's feet and sob.

"Will Private die because of me?" Skipper flinched, and Kowalski knew he had gotten somewhere. "Will you_ blame _me when you find out?"

"No."

Skipper's voice, clear and calm, cut through his lieutenant's words. "No, Kowalski. I truly believe in you. And, like I said before, in the event that we lose one of our men, we will resume our missions promptly."

Somehow, Kowalski wasn't so sure that Skipper was telling the truth. But before he could argue, Skipper made his way to the underside of the ship.

"Go to sleep, soldier. We'll discuss this in the morning."

Kowalski heard Skipper's voice resonate through his head as he stared at the spot where he once stood.

All was silent except for the distant _boom_ of thunder.

And then Kowalski realized what he had overlooked.

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><p><strong>Oh noes! What did Kowalski do? Here's a hint- it's got to do with thunder and big, puffy clouds.<strong>

**Yet another angsty chapter, I know. But Hank is purdy cool! And I hope I didn't use too harsh of a Texan stereotype for the Amarillo Kid, I'm Texan and I didn't offend myself. There's a start.**

**Thanks to all the reviewers... Guess what I just realized? This story broke 500 views and has 16 reviews! OMG! *squeal* Yay! Words can't describe how much these reviews and these favorites mean to me!**

**Have a good rest of the day!**


	5. Making Do

_All was silent except for the distant _boom _of thunder._

_And Kowalski realized what he had overlooked._

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><p>The sky was pitch black; he couldn't see a foot in front of him. "Skipper?"<p>

Rain was the sky's response to Kowalski's cry. It was coming down hard.

The raindrops were fat and heavy, propelled forward by the wind. A wave crashed into the yacht and rocked it violently. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flipper pull the hatch to the underside of the boat shut.

"No! Open the hatch!"

He tried to scream louder, and he could have sworn that something was pushing against the hatch, trying to get it open. Sadly, the wind was too strong for just two penguins to push open a human-sized trapdoor.

He groped for a hold- he needed to brace himself against _something_- and he felt the wind whistling past his streamlined body. His flippers slid against the boat and he yelled again, this time recieving a mouthful of seawater as another wave attacked their boat, flipping it sideways.

Darkness. An odd quiet. The absence of all light, of all sound, of all calm. It was best compared to a vaccum- devoid of air and any sort of movement. It was the type of place that caused one to abandon all logic and reason, to resort to inclination and make rash descisions.

It was how he imagined space would feel, without the confines of a space suit.

Kowalski squeezed his eyes shut and writhed in the water, trying to get to the surface.

As his lungs burned, he thrashed more desperately.

Instinct got the better of him and he sucked in a beakful of water.

He flailed his flippers in a desperate attempt to swim, to get air, to survive. But the churning waters ensured that he would never make it.

There was a pressure building in his lower back. Then, it spread to his chest, and he felt as if he was being crushed.

Then everything was a quite pleasant shade of purple.

The abrupt change made him feel oddly relaxed. He had not imagined for a second that this was how drowning would feel.

Could penguins even drown? He laughed, and then realized he could breathe. There was air.

He opened his eyes and saw nothing but his two-faced desires assume a manifestation before him. He wasn't even sure what they were supposed to be. He wasn't even sure how he had survived. He was a penguin, thus his instinct would always be to swim, he guessed.

He laughed again, in the face of his desire. Then the purple was gone and he was in space. Except all the stars were gone.

* * *

><p><em>"Can you remind me again why the sky is blue?" Private asked him.<em>

_"There's a theory that each individual on this earth sees colors differently. So the sky may be the blue you call blue, but my blue may be a whole different blue. It may even be your green."_

_"That doesn't make any sense, K'walski," he said, in that accusatory tone that sounded almost exactly like Skipper's._

_"Well, maybe if we all switched eyes for a day, you'd know what I mean," he grumbled abashedly._

_"That's not what I meant. I mean, does it depend on your eye color?"_

_"There's no real proof yet," he muttered quickly. "But it may be that our optical nerves and maybe even our nerve cells in general are genetially varied. We haven't had a chance to study all manifestations of DNA just yet." ._

_"So... It's like being colorblind?" Private asked._

_"Almost." He smiled as Private waddled off, his tiny attention span just consumed by a butterfly that had landed on the fencing of their habitat._

_"_Almost like being colorblind," _he mused to himself later that day._ "That's an odd way of looking at it."

"But there's no denying the fact that it makes sense."

_The more he pondered over the idea- the _hypothesis_ it had become- the more he realized overwhelmingly that Private, with the innocence of a child, had proposed a solution unlike one he had ever thought of._

It made sense_. He chuckled._

_Private had only been at the zoo for six months, and he was already theorizing on scientific subjects Kowalski hadn't grasped until after years of education. He couldn't help but feel a spark of anger towards his newly adopted younger brother._

_He had all this talent. This- this curiosity, a natural inclination towards science. He had a frank way of thinking and the ability to grasp new ideas quite quickly._

_Kowalski was even a bit jealous of Private- he was almost a scientific prodigy. And yet he knew that the penguin was destined to be something else._

_Private didn't seem content with fighting at the time. Obviously, he despised Rico's almost maniacal love of explosions, and he seemed, at most, indifferent towards science and Kowalski's inventions, at times sharing their leader's contempt for them._

_Kowalski's guess at first had been at first that Private wasn't destined for military life- he was barely a chick when he had been given to them by Central- and he had been afraid of even the prospect of violence or pain. But that slowly changed. Private grew more independent, and after the first attack of Skipper's archenemy, Dr. Blowhole, Private asked to learn how to fight._

_He'd liked to believe that his commanding officer was a kind person and wouldn't force his team into anything they didn't fully agree with. Even so, at that point three years ago, Skipper's patience with Private was wearing thin. He had been more a hindrance than a help, and Skipper seemed about ready to discharge him and focus on his missions._

_When Private volunteered to fight, Kowalski knew exactly what Private was destined to be. _

"He was supposed to carry us," he managed between sobs. His throat hurt and his chest still burned from his near-death experience. "He was supposed to be the angel that came down to Hell for us. And he'd escort us to heaven."

"What's wrong, man? You've gone stark raving mad," said Skipper, in an ironically calm tone. The yacht, sopping wet as it was, had served as a sort of sickbed for Kowalski after he had fallen into the sea during the storm. He was sporting what seemed like a fever and was suffering from delusions.

It was now the morning after the storm, and everything was eerily calm. "You made the right choice, soldier," said Skipper. He looked down at the eyes that were open, staring past him and into another world.

"Rico," he called, glancing away from Kowalski's empty stare. "Can you watch him for a sec?"

Skipper got a grunt of approval as he headed above deck. The sun was just starting to rise, and Skipper stared at its beauty. He vaguely recalled Kowalski saying something about never looking directly into the sun, and he almost yelped in fear, quickly averting his gaze.

Then, he almost whooped with glee.

"Yes! The sun is _rising_ that way, so that is East!" He swiveled around quickly, caught up in his discovery. "So that way's West. The North is that way, and the South..." he laughed again, in utter disbelief of his luck.

"We're one step closer to finding him! You made the right choice, Kowalski!"

He felt the overwhelming need to prove that he had been right all along, so he did, even though his lieutenant wasn't with him. "I _told ya so!_"

Skipper hadn't felt this free since he was a cadet, back in Central HQ.

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><p><strong>I'm pretty sure I promised an action scene or something in the last chapter's author's note, but I wrote so much this week that I had to split the chapter I had planned in two. So you'll get to see Private kick some butt next chapter, maybe!<strong>

**I want to take a moment to mention how much these reviews mean to me. Never once have I felt like I'm talking (or rather, _writing_) to a wall in this beautiful fandom. It's all thanks to the readers who care enough to click on this story, to read it, to offer a comment or a piece of critiscism, or even follow/favorite my story. I'm pretty sure this's been my fastest update between two chapters, and this is all thanks to the motiviation you guys give to me!**

**And also, as a response to Smile-I'mTheEndOfAllThatYouSee's earlier review: I like to think of the brothers as Adelie penguins.**

**Everything you guys do really means the whole world to me. So, on behalf of the countless hours I have spent on this story, have a good rest of the day, mates! (Is that, like, my catchphrase now?) **


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